EAGER: A Thermally-Assisted Magnetic Flow-Based Process for the Manufacture of Bulk Metallic Glass Surgical Cutting Edges

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(Public Law 111-5)资助的。“拟议的研究旨在开发一种制造超锋利块状金属玻璃外科刀片的制造工艺，作为单晶钻石刀片的高性能低成本替代品。这项工作将包括开发一种新型的基于热辅助磁场的微拉深工艺，以将刀具刃磨到20？50 nm的半径。这一过程包括用激光加热切边，以暂时使其更具延展性，同时应用高强度磁场来拉动加热的材料。本地化拉深有望生产出极其锋利耐用的块状金属玻璃切割刃。这种新型磨削工艺的成功开发有可能产生极其广泛的影响。例如，它可以使纳米探针的制造应用成为可能，包括DNA操作和用于浸渍笔光刻的尖锐特征阵列的制造。对这一过程的了解也可能使衍生过程成为可能，例如通过磁场中微部件的局部加热和变形来实现微连接。此外，根据拟议的项目，学生将接受关于快速崛起的微型制造领域的广泛主题的培训。公众教育将通过参与伊利诺伊大学工程开放参观计划等外展活动来解决。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."The proposed research is directed at developing a manufacturing process for making ultra-sharp bulk metallic glass surgical knife blades as a high-performance low-cost alternative to single-crystal diamond blades. The work will involve developing a novel thermally-assisted magnetic field-based micro-drawing process for sharpening cutting edges to a radius of 20 ? 50 nm. This process involves heating a cutting edge with a laser in order to temporary render it more ductile and simultaneously applying a high-intensity magnetic field to pull the heated material. Localized drawing is expected to produce an extremely sharp and durable bulk metallic glass cutting edge.Successful development of the novel sharpening process has the potential to have an extremely broad-based impact. For example, it could enable manufacture of nano-probes for applications including DNA manipulation and manufacture of arrays of sharp features for dip pen lithography. Understanding of the process may also enable derivative processes such as micro joining via localized heating and deformation of micro-parts in a magnetic field. Additionally, under the proposed project, students will receive training on a broad range of topics in the rapidly emerging field of micro-scale manufacturing. Education of the general public will be addressed by participating in outreach activities such as the University of Illinois Engineering Open House program.